Forget the mall. There has been no place more evident of the holiday hustle and bustle than the Rising Sun Post Office. "We've been using all of our subs to handle the additional volume. We've had a 36 percent increase in parcels," said postmaster Donna Staley.

She said that increase in packages to deliver meant longer hours for staff. Delivery trucks arrived at the post office with parcels several times a day. Crew members have been working from 3 a.m. until 7 p.m. or longer when necessary. The non public area of the post office was overflowing with carts of packages last week. "We've been using two subs in the morning and they've been doing three runs all day long. This started right before Thanksgiving," said Staley. She anticipated that things would slow down the week after Christmas. Staley said that while there are more packages this year, she has seen less Christmas cards. "We've been doing more and more parcels. “We have tractor trailers coming in two to three times a day bringing parcels," she said.